So I was on my PC in the morning, just browsing the internet, what I usually do. Eventually my GF calls to hang out and I go out of the house for the day. I come home that evening and try to boot up my machine to no avail. After about 5 seconds of the initial powering on it freezes. I can select to go into my BIOS (from the initial boot up screen) but before I can even get into my BIOS it freezes. If I wait too long in the initial boot up screen, I can't select any of the options.

I tried swapping out the memory one at a time and that doesn't seem to be the problem. I tried cleaning out my case and checking all my fans thinking overheating was the issue and that didn't solve it. Right now I'm thinking that maybe my CPU or my MOBO has died.

My PC specs are the following:
E6600 CPU
X1950XTX GPU
2gb (2 sticks) of XMS2 Corsair RAM
P5W DH Deluxe MOBO
Soundblaster X-FI Sound Card
OCZ GameXStream 600W PSU

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Dani AI

Generated

A freeze about five seconds after power-up usually means the system is failing very early—before POST finishes. That makes OS/drivers and the hard drive unlikely primary causes; power delivery, the motherboard, or the CPU are the usual suspects. ’s drive-scan idea can rule out filesystem problems later, but prioritizing hardware-level checks will get to the root faster. ’s question about beeps is also key: POST feedback often points straight at the bad subsystem.

Quick, prioritized checks (do them in order):

  1. Attach a small motherboard speaker and note any beep pattern or lack of beeps. Consult the board manual for the meaning of codes.
  2. Do a visual inspection under good light for bulging/leaking capacitors, scorch marks, or bent pins on the LGA socket—these are common, visible failures on older boards.
  3. Check power delivery: swap in a known-good PSU or use a PSU tester/multimeter to verify the +12V/+5V/+3.3V rails and the Power-Good signal. A PSU that collapses under initial load will cause early hangs.
  4. Eliminate shorts and bad front-panel wiring: disconnect all peripherals, drives and expansion cards, unplug front-panel headers, then bench-test the motherboard on an insulated surface with only CPU, one stick of RAM and video (if required).
  5. If benching still fails, systematically swap known-good components (RAM in each slot, spare GPU, or a spare CPU/motherboard if available). POST code cards can be used if present.

Interpretation guide: fans and LEDs spinning with no POST usually points to motherboard/PSU; audible beep codes narrow faults to RAM/GPU/CPU. Visible capacitor damage or burnt areas generally means the board needs replacement. Take basic ESD and mains-safety precautions when probing or swapping parts. If the board shows obvious physical damage or power-rail instability, replacement is the practical next step; CPUs fail less often but should be checked if everything else tests good.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

HI and welcome
You should scan your HDD by slaving it in another machine for any possible viruses etc. also clean out your system to remove the dus t that might be perventing your machine from operating properly.try that and inform me asap

I am having a similar issue. Virus scan showed nothing and there is not a lot of dust in the machine. Any ideas? Thanks.

HI
If you tried the above that is, if you ran chckdsk /f on youre hard drive than try this
-remove all cards (thats pci cards) except for youre GFX card if its PCI
-power up youre machine with only one ram stick, cpu, and hd

swap out youre GFX card with a one that you knows is working.


A reset on the cmos might also do the trick


cheers
sittas

So I was on my PC in the morning, just browsing the internet, what I usually do. Eventually my GF calls to hang out and I go out of the house for the day. I come home that evening and try to boot up my machine to no avail. After about 5 seconds of the initial powering on it freezes. I can select to go into my BIOS (from the initial boot up screen) but before I can even get into my BIOS it freezes. If I wait too long in the initial boot up screen, I can't select any of the options.

I tried swapping out the memory one at a time and that doesn't seem to be the problem. I tried cleaning out my case and checking all my fans thinking overheating was the issue and that didn't solve it. Right now I'm thinking that maybe my CPU or my MOBO has died.

My PC specs are the following:
E6600 CPU
X1950XTX GPU
2gb (2 sticks) of XMS2 Corsair RAM
P5W DH Deluxe MOBO
Soundblaster X-FI Sound Card
OCZ GameXStream 600W PSU

Any ideas would be appreciated.

all these did not work for me, how do you think this will go behind me?

Any Beeps ?

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